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Another Aussie ski lift falls over. This time due to landslide.

Sun, 05 Sep 2010 03:27:18 +0000

�After a year when southern hemisphere ski resorts seem to have had a run of rotten luck, including:

- Burnt Hut chair at Mt Buller (Victoria, Australia) being fried and melted by a lightning strike

- A quad at Mt Ruapehu (Nth Island, New Zealand) being pulled down by severe icing

- The main access lift, a mixed quad/gondola at Mt Buller (Victoria) suffering terminal death throes and closing 4 months after a major overhaul.

We have another disaster. After enduring 10 inches of rain in a day on a 6 foot snow base, the resort of Mt Hotham was probably the soggiest place in the world. A landslide wiped out the base station of the lift providing access between the ski village and most of the other lifts.

Hotham is the only Australian resort that mostly disregards beginners and specifically targets advanced and expert skiers. It is infamous for it's limited green and blue runs but renowned for it's range of black and dark blue runs. But without the Village chair, the whole mountain will suffer.

Village is the lift second from bottom left. Click here for a better res map. http://www.mthotham....ain/winter/map/

New Doppelmayr Website

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:09:40 +0000

http://www.doppelmayr.com/

Pretty underwhelming.

The bubble chairs in Utah

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 21:15:09 +0000

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=12199995

Utah ski areas add amenities like bubble chair
August 29th, 2010 @ 11:53am
By Paul Foy, AP Writer

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) -- Utah's fastest growing ski area is spending millions of dollars to reconfigure the mountain and add North America's first heated chair lift with a bubble shield that swings over passengers like a pair of orange goggles.

The changes at The Canyons, one of Park City's three ski resorts, highlight some of the biggest development projects or plans at Utah ski areas since the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics drove major expansions.

"This is the future. The experience will be so different -- it will be like a new resort. The big story is the faith we have in the potential of The Canyons." -Mike GoarThe resorts are moving despite the down economy and saving on construction costs because of it. Ultimately they hope to steal market share from Colorado, which draws three times as much skier traffic. Utah's resorts, with advantages like double Colorado's snowfall and a short drive from Salt Lake City's airport, aren't shy about making investments.

"This is the future," Mike Goar, managing director of The Canyons, said at the base of the 4,000-acre resort as bulldozers reshaped land for new lift terminals and outdoor patios. "The experience will be so different -- it will be like a new resort. The big story is the faith we have in the potential of The Canyons."

The Canyons is owned by Toronto-based Talisker Corp., a closely held resort operator that won't reveal how much it is spending. Executives say it is one of the biggest investments by a North American ski operator in years.

The Canyons was considered so valuable that when Talisker bought it two years ago for $123 million, Colorado rival Vail Resorts Inc. filed a lawsuit claiming it had a deal to buy the Park City resort from now-defunct American Skiing Co. but was pushed aside. Vail dropped the lawsuit a year later but grumbled that it reserved the right to seek monetary damages.

Now, Talisker is on a tight schedule to remake Utah's largest ski resort by December. It is opening an eighth peak for skiing and adding or realigning several lifts, while redesigning the village base.

The main lift, an eight-passenger gondola, is being moved closer to an aerial cabriolet that picks up skiers from a parking lot.

Also at the base, the resort is adding a high-speed chair lift with seats that can heat up to about 55 degrees. That could change skiers' outlook on a frigid winter day. A bubble shield will keep the wind off as skiers sail high onto the mountain in nine minutes.

The lift is the envy of other Utah resorts, but others have big plans, too.

Snowbird, in the mountains just east of Salt Lake City, and Snowbasin near Ogden have filed plans for major expansions with local governments or the U.S. Forest Service.

Snowbird is an especially steep ski area that is Utah's most challenging and wants to go higher. It has proposed a second passenger tram from its 11,000-foot summit to a 11,489-foot peak nearby.

It would open hundreds of acres of new terrain for skiing. The new tram is among a number of changes Snowbird filed in May with a master plan to the Forest Service for approval. The full plan would take 10 years to realize.

Snowbasin has even bigger plans for all-season resort development that spill far outside its boundaries onto private land acquired over the years by owner Earl Holding, who initially spent about $200 million to make Snowbasin an Olympic mountain -- it held the downhill races in 2002.

Now, Snowbasin wants to add golf courses, hiking and horseback trails and 5,500 housing and hotel units. It also plans lift upgrades and a second base area on the mountain.

"We have a lot of faith in the future," said Kent Lyons, Snowbasin's general manager. "It's not a bad time to do construction now if you can afford to do it."

Last year Utah's resorts drew skiers for just over 4 million visits and generated $1 billion in spending for the state's economy. Colorado drew nearly 12 million skier visits.

Among other Utah resorts sprucing up their mountains:

�Park City Mountain Resort is adding snowmaking on the lower mountain and brighter lights for more night skiing terrain. The resort says it's spending $4.5 million on those and other improvements, and saving on more efficient night lighting.

�Deer Valley, the perennial favorite of Ski magazine -- it has earned readers' No. 1 ranking for three years in a row -- says it's investing $4.5 million in mountain amenities this year. It's updating the interiors of ski lodges and replacing equipment including snowmaking machines with more energy-efficient models.

�Brighton Resort says it has invested $5 million in ski lifts over the past few years.

�Alta, Utah's legendary powder palace, hardly ever needs improvement, but the ski area is planting trees, shrubs, mountain flowers and grasses. It's upgrading snowmaking capacity and overhauling a quaint rope tow that pulls skiers between base areas.

�Powder Mountain, about 20 miles northeast of Ogden, is expanding popular snowcat-assisted backcountry terrain for a total of 7,000 skiable acres. The Canyons, with 4,000 lift-serviced acres, claims to be Utah's largest. Powder says it's bigger, but skiers there have to climb, shuffle along mountain ridges or get pulled by a snowcat to reach much of the terrain.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Ascutney, Vermont Financial Troubles

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 06:03:48 +0000

Ascutney Mountain Resort in Vermont may not open this season. The website has not been updated recently. This is not a small resort; it has a CTEC detachable quad, 3 CTEC triples, and a Hall double.

http://www.snowjournal.com/page.php?cid=topic16724
http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/88662/

Terminal Drawings

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:53:34 +0000

Does anyone have any drawings of terminals made by Poma, LEITNER.

If so please could you post them here.

You may post cabins and chairs too!

The Canyons 2010 Transformation

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:39:52 +0000

The Facebook status update: "I can finally spill our re-creation of the resort! We are re-aligning the gondola for access directly across from the Cabriolet, new quad with heated seats and orange bubble to protect from the weather, ski beach between gondola and new quad, and Iron Mountain adds 300 acres of terrain. Plus-reservoir to add to snowmaking! Press release coming."

Well now we have to wait for the press release for details like whether the second stage is happening, and whether Iron Mountain is a high speed quad or not (my money's on not). This is really exciting though. I wonder what this ski beach is all about. Are they going to make snow out in front of the Grand Summit hotel and put beach chairs out there like Deer Valley has?

Photo Ideas?

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:53:56 +0000

I'm in the Dolomites and Austria this week for hiking and climbing. �Is there are any interesting lifts to photo or that you would like to see, let me know and I will see what I can do.

TME

Hurricane Ridge Looking at Upgrading to a Chair

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:46:09 +0000

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20100812/news/308129997/matt-schuberts-outdoors-column-ski-lifts-not-part-of-road-changes

MATT SCHUBERT'S OUTDOORS COLUMN: Ski lifts not part of road changes

By Matt Schubert

THINGS MIGHT CHANGE for Hurricane Ridge Road this winter.

Just don't expect that to affect Hurricane Ridge Winter Sports Club operations that much.

Even if the road remains open daily during the North Olympic Peninsula dark period (weather permitting, of course), that probably won't translate into 24-7 organized skiing/snowboarding activities at the Ridge.

The Winter Sports Club, a non-profit that operates both rope tows and the Poma lift atop the mountain, simply could not afford it.

"Financially, it just wouldn't work," club president Joe Gladfelter said.

"In our agreement with [Olympic National Park], we're set up to run only on the weekend: Saturdays, Sundays and holidays

"During the winter break we have some flexibility to operate [during days outside of the weekend], and we've done that in the past.

"But in regards to [daily operation of the lifts] . . . that's not in the plan."

Winter Sports Club board members have been part of a recent fundraising effort to keep the road open 24-7 from late fall to early spring. It's expected to be successful.

Port Angeles City Council member Cherie Kidd said she hopes to announce at a Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce weekly luncheon Monday that the $75,000 needed to supplement federal dollars has been collected.

The federal Department of the Interior pledged $250,000 to keep the road open daily.

The idea is to see whether more access to the Ridge could translate into more revenue in winter months for area hotels and other businesses.

It would appear that increase would have to be supported by other user groups (at least during weekdays) like back country hikers, snowshoers and cross country skiers.

(And those skiers/snowboarders crazy enough to hit the hillsides and hike back up.)

Kidd said she believes that could be enough.

"People are already asking to come during the week," Kidd said. "We have people that want year-round recreational [opportunities at the Ridge] in Port Angeles and throughout the state.

"This way we'll be able to welcome more visitors."

Added Gladfelter, "We're supportive of [the road being open all winter].

"This is kind of a small piece of the big picture of getting people looking at Port Angeles as a winter [sports] area.

"It gets people thinking about the Ridge."

The Winter Sports Club raises money each year -- most notably during Winterfest in November -- to help pay for its weekend operations from mid-December through March.

Board members are usually happy if the club simply breaks even.

Unless the club could entice the same number of visitors during the week, it would be hard to generate enough money to justify operating.

"We'd lose money," Gladfelter said. "That's not us.

"We're not set up to be a ski resort."

Recently, the club has begun focusing on improvements at the hill. That includes the possibility of replacing the aging Poma lift with a chair lift.

Plans for such an upgrade are permissible under Olympic National Park's new general management plan.

Raising money for that is the club's main focus in the near future, according to Gladfelter.

Snow Creek, Weston Missouri

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 18:37:59 +0000

Does anyone here know what make, model and year the chairlifts at Snow Creek are from? I've e-mailed them numerous times, and haven't heard back yet.

Thanks!

Alpine/Mountain Coasters

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 12:07:53 +0000

Anyone operate a mountain coaster at their mountain. We're looking to install one and I was told that it would fall under my management. So I wanted to get some ideas of the operating costs and labor and general training of the operations

Woman Killed at Whistler

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 06:02:12 +0000

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/08/05/bc-woman-killed-whistler-skilift.html

Woman, 75, killed at Whistler chairlift

Last Updated: Thursday, August 5, 2010 | 9:56 PM PT Comments12 Recommend68

CBC News
The chairlifts at B.C.'s Whistler ski resort operate for sightseeing during the summer. (CBC)A 75-year-old woman has died after a chairlift accident Thursday in Whistler, B.C.

The woman was trying to board the Solar Coaster Express chairlift on Blackcomb Mountain at about 3:30 p.m. PT when she apparently fell four metres off a raised platform, said RCMP Sgt. Shawn Lemay.

Paramedics transported the woman to hospital, where she was declared dead, Lemay said.

He said the woman, whose name has not been released, was a tourist from elsewhere in Canada and was visiting Whistler with family members.

Although it's not skiing season at the Whistler Blackcomb resort, the chairlifts are still in operation for sightseeing.

Whistler is about 100 kilometres north of Vancouver.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/08/05/bc-woman-killed-whistler-skilift.html#ixzz0vnqOlqim

First start of the day

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 02:20:17 +0000

In another thread, I read that for a lift to start there must be acknowledgment from the return station that everything is OK. So at the beginning of the day, how does the return station give acknowledgment if there's no lift operators there? Is there some kind of override at the bottom station that allows the lift to run without any top station interaction? Every single time I ride a lift I've wondered about this, so I figured someone here could shed some light on that. And the same is basically true for the end of the day... do lift operators at the top of the lift take the lift down or do they take snowmobiles?

Lift mid-stations

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 05:37:23 +0000

Hi everyone...

Last weekend I rode up the BreckConnect gondola at Breckenridge just for a fun summer ride. I'm curious about its mid-stations though (or all mid-stations in general)..... between each mid-station, is there a separate haul rope and bullwheel set, or is the haul rope fed through each mid-station and continuous for the whole length of the lift? My best guess would be that there's a different haul rope for each leg, but I could be wrong... and that's why I'm asking!

Breckenridge

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 02:13:15 +0000

HI!
I was trying to inquire about Breck's Peak 8 SuperConnect Quad. If you have any info, please reply to this post.

Non-Lift Incident

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 14:39:06 +0000

While this isn't a ski lift incident, it does show the importance of being vigilant with safety standards.

From the Wisconsin State Journal Website

Quote

A 12-year-old girl at an amusement park plunged more than 40 feet to the ground on Friday, seriously injuring herself when a safety net under a "free fall" attraction failed to catch her.

Police declined to identify the girl or to elaborate on her injuries, but said she was from out of state and was visiting the Wisconsin Dells with her family. The area is a popular Midwest tourist destination known for its amusement parks.

On its website, Extreme World amusement park describes its Terminal Velocity ride as a one-of-a-kind experience that offers an "unattached, controlled free fall." Participants are outfitted in a special harness, taken up in an elevator, and then dropped straight down into a "huge airtube supported net."

After the girl was released for her fall, "the net mechanism that was supposed to catch her and break her fall was not high enough above the ground to completely break the fall and she did hit the ground," Lake Delton Police Chief Thomas Dorner said.

...
http://host.madison.com/news/state-and-regional/wisconsin/article_ff99646a-316a-59b3-b1b6-af90d5a53fa2.html

They are blaming operator error.

Quote

Investigators say operator error is to blame for an accident at a Wisconsin Dells amusement park that left a young girl critically injured.

Police say 12-year-old Teagan Marti of Parkland, Fla., was dropped about 100 feet to the ground Friday on a ride called Terminal Velocity. A net 40 feet off the ground was supposed to have caught the girl, but it wasn't in place when the girl was released to free fall into the net.

The Sauk County district attorney will review the case. The Wisconsin State Journal reports Extreme World amusement park, which operated the ride, was closed Friday and Saturday, but has since re-opened.

http://host.madison.com/news/state-and-regional/wisconsin/article_bdaee02f-13eb-5926-af4a-0cd9c3ea0eb6.html

Also noted in other reports are that the attraction is in foreclosure and that everything was removed from the attractions website shortly after this incident. It now only has their logo.

Extreme World
http://www.extremeworld.com

Lift Evacuation

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:49:54 +0000

How do you evacuate a baby from the ski lift? My resort uses the T-seat to evac guests. A baby cannot be evacuated using this system. Keep in mind the boss doesn't want to spend money on an updated system. I'm curious what other resorts have for a policy or procedure. Any help out there?

Palmer Express at Timberline

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 17:20:28 +0000

I was looking at the pictures of Palmer Express from this site and noticed that the line goes over the mid-station in all of the pictures. Here is an example:

However, I know for a fact that the mid station is used during the summer.

Does Timberline actually put the terminal into service every summer and then take it out of service every winter?

Anthony Lakes Ski Area

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 00:49:46 +0000

Oregon county may take over money-losing ski area
Despite some jitters, Baker County officials say they're pursuing the idea of taking over a money-losing ski area.

The Associated Press

BAKER CITY, Ore. � Despite some jitters, Baker County officials say they're pursuing the idea of taking over a money-losing ski area.

The owners of Ski Anthony Lakes Mountain Resort have offered the assets of the ski area to the county government, including the rest of its 30-year Forest Service lease, the Baker City Herald reports.

Skiers and businesses that rely on winter visitors to the county's only ski area back the idea.

"I can tell you it is hugely important to us," said Luke Brown, whose family owns two restaurants in Baker City.

County Commission Chairman Fred Warner Jr. calls the area "an asset we don't want to lose. I think we have an opportunity here to do something good, but before we accept this gift, I want to make sure we have a business plan that makes money at least most of the time."

During most of the last 12 years the three couples that own Ski Anthony Lakes were close to breaking even, but they have lost about $45,000 annually in recent years, according to figures given the commissioners.

Two Washington state couples, Lee and Connie Kearney and Parke and Gail Ball of Vancouver, and Kim and Dana Kutsch of the Salem area own Ski Anthony Lakes. Its advocates say it dates to the 1930s.

The owners absorbed the losses because they like skiing and believe the resort is an important community asset, said General Manager Bill Junnila.

"If we say no, I don't know what the owners will do," Warner said. "If we had a year to set this up I would be more comfortable, but we may have to take the first year on faith."

He said the county could use lodging tax revenue to offset a one-year loss while it works on a business plan that would include better marketing and cost savings, such as having county employees take on maintenance and other work.

Warner said the operation might be restructured as a nonprofit organization, and the restaurant and bar could be leased out.

Oldest Lift

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 07:20:18 +0000

Does anyone know where the oldest lift still in operation is today? How old is it? Who manufactured it?

If you have any more specs, I would like that too. Thanks, :-)

Whistler Blackcomb on the block?

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 05:56:36 +0000

Make what you will of this. Nothing would surprise me.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704895204575321122283935814.html

Chamonix Old Lift

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 03:49:25 +0000

I spent the summer in Chamonix last year and spent one day hiking the lift line of the original lift up to the glacier. The lift has been abandoned about 30 years at least, but still some interesting photos. I will post two, and if you like I will post more. First is near the top and shows a touch of re-engineering that needed to be done! Second is looking up the abandoned third stage that was never completed.

Also wanted to say a great site. I was patrol for many years, and still love the mountains even though I work in education now.

Schoolyard Express at Mammoth

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 01:26:07 +0000

I found this on the Doppelmayr website.
The Schoolyard Express at Mammoth appears to have six-pack terminals despite the fact that it is a high-speed quad.

Anyone know the reason for this? Possibly for a future upgrade to a six-pack?

Here's a pic. It's a Doppelmayr CTEC model UNI-GS.

Questions from SkiLiftsRock

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 05:26:55 +0000

Does anyone know if the Lift Operations Training Video is on the internet?

Sunshine Village Install Dates

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 22:16:32 +0000

I was looking through the lift installation surveys and found that Goat's Eye Express is shown as being installed twice, in 1996 and 1997. I believe that one of them is supposed to be the Continental Divide Express.

Anyone know which one is which?

Forest Service rejects Solitude's expansion request

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 05:38:09 +0000

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=11207256

Forest Service rejects Solitude's expansion request

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The U.S. Forest Service is rejecting a Utah ski area's request to be allowed to expand skiing operations into part of an adjacent canyon.

Solitude Mountain Resort asked in April to add 182 acres on the east side of Silver Fork Creek to its ski resort permit boundary in Big Cottonwood Canyon east of Salt Lake City.

The resort initially sought the whole canyon, including terrain popular with backcountry skiers.

But the Forest Service told Solitude on Tuesday that the proposal didn't comply with federal regulations governing recreation special uses.

Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest Supervisor Brian Ferebee says allowing expansion into "adjacent, highly valued undeveloped areas" is inconsistent with a 2003 forest plan and the public interest.

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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune